Master weaves night of Indian magic
SYDNEY :
Shivkumar Sharma, Government House Ballroom
Since 1955 Indian musician Shiv Kumar Sharma has worked tirelessly to give santoor credibility in the world's concert halls, as much through his extraordinary virtuosity as the changes he has made to the instrument to increase its versatility.
The santoor is related to many instruments with which the western audiences are familiar. Such as the hammered dulcimer and the Hungarian Kimball, enclosed boxes on which are strung a series of wires that are struck by mallets.
In the brief introductory talk, ShivKumar Sharma explained some of the improvements he has made to the santoor, increasing its range to three octaves and arranging the strings to enable him to play chromatically.
A program note also says that Sharma has devised new playing techniques that enable him to sustain notes.
In a significant way, Sharma continues a tradition once widespread in the West but now largely neglected except by jazz musicians and some organists.
Masters such as Handel and Beethoven and more recently organist Cesar frank, would dazzle the listeners with their ability to improvise, a skill which would be thought of as playing proceeding straight from the soloists imagination, a kind of composing as one goes along.
On this count Sharma is immensely skilled, using little wooden mallets to coax from the santoor a stream of most beguiling sound, melodically intriguing and rhythmically fascinating.
It is greatly to the credit of Sharma's persuasiveness as a musician, that despite offerings, of considerable length--on oar with say the works of Messiaen or Sorabji--his improvisation made for consistently appealing listening.
Not the least of the qualities that contributed to the overall effect of Sharma's presentation was the fastidious attention to precise tuning.
A bouquet to tabla virtuoso Shafaat Ahmed Khan. With some of the most supple and educated wrists and fingers in the business, he added a magical dimension.
Synchronisation between the santoor and the tabla was so remarkably fine, it seems as if the players are drawing on a shared musical consciousness.
Also s discreet presence was Manorama Sharma, accompanying on the tanpura, a long- necked
unfretted instrument
A final word about the possibility of improving the ventilation of the Government House Ballroom.
On warm and humid nights, it becomes one of the city's least comfortable venues, as much--or ever more --for the performers as the audience. Certainly one sympathised with Sharma's need to frequently mop his brow(as did, for that matter, pianist Peter Jablonski the previous evening).
ABC-FM will broadcast the first part of Sharma's concert at 10 PM on Wednesday.
Reviewed by Neville Cohen, The West Australian
©COPYRIGHT 1997 Shivkumar Sharma Associates